COMPARISON OF MAIN HEALING SYSTEMS

A Comparative Evaluation of Features of
The Three Great Traditional Healing 
Systems with Western Medicine

	Unani Ibnu Sina	Ayurveda	Chinese	Western
Place & Date of Origin	Persia; circa 980 AD.	India; circa 2000 BC.	China; circa 2700 BC.	Europe; United States; late 19th century.
Dynamic Elements	Ruh (soul; spirit).	Prana (energy).	Chi (life energy).	Immune system.
Diseases Correlate with	Humoural imbalance.	Tridoshas.	Yin-Yang; Chi.	Named pathology.
Basic Cause of Disease	Imbalance of humoral temperament; Long continued errors of regimen.	Ama the very death or "harbinger of misery"; the cause of disease.	Systemic imbalances; no overriding emphasis on one.	Bacteria; virus.
Basis of Diagnosis	Humoural: Blood, Phlegm, Yellow Bile; Black Bile.	Tridosha: Vata, Kapha, Pitta.	Four Diagnosis of Traditional Chinese Medicine.	Based on patient's history, physical examination, laboratory testing.
Diagnostic Models	Restore balance to humours, organ systems.	Concept of shiva-shakti; balance in terms of three using the tridosha or three humour system.	Achieve balance of yin-passive and yang-active physiological function.	Specifically named pathology.
Chief Diagnostic Modality	Differential; mizaj or temperament assessed for each of four humours.	Differential; states of consciousness aligned with each of the three humours.	Differential, questioning, observation, palpation and listening; Zang Fu organ syndromes.	Differential; named disease.
Diagnostic Tests	Observation, lifestyle, pulse, urine, feces, abdominal and palpation.	Tongue, pulse, urine, abdominal and palpation.	Tongue, pulse, abdominal and palpation.	Urinalysis, X-rays, and standard blood tests; sampling organ tissues, injecting radiopaque dyes, diagnostic X-rays; pneumoencephalography; angiography. Note: In the US as a whole, about 8.5 billion laboratory diagnostic tests were done in 1996.
Pulse Diagnosis	Reveals humoral imbalance in organ system. Taken with three finger at radial pulse of wrist. More than 1,000 potential factors evaluated in seconds.	Correlates pulse to the tridosha or three humours. Taken by the index finger of the physician; qualities of pulse are described in terms of several animals, snake or leech, frog, sparrow, crow, swan, cock or peacock.	Direct manifestation of the circulatory energy of the body; classical five phase pulse correspondences. Taken on the wrist; about 40% reliable as a sole diagnostic method by most TCM practitioners.	Speed: fast pulse - slow pulse.
Elements of Nature	Four: Fire, Air, Water and Earth.	Five: Fire, Earth, Water, Air and Ether.	Five: Fire, Earth, Metal, Water and Wood.	22 Basic elements of chemistry.
Main Dietary Influences	Non-alcoholic; regular fasting; non-pork.	Vegetarian.	None.	High sugar; alcohol, fats; drugs.
Will & Participation of Patient	Empower patient to make changes in diet & lifestyle.	High objectivity.	Personal determination.	Not significant.
Deity of System	Monotheistic; Abrahamic God of Islam, Christianity, Judaism.	Polytheistic; Hinduism.	Atheistic; Confucianism; Taoism; Bhuddism	Monotheistic; Abrahamic God of Islam, Christianity, Judaism.
Primary Treatment Modalities	Diet; herbs; fasting; cupping; purgation; baths; attars.	Panj Karma (detoxi-fication); herbs; diet; emetic therapies.	Acupuncture, herbs; cupping; moxibustion; diet.	Chemo-therapy; pharma-ceutical drugs; surgery.
Primary Treatment Objective	Mizan-restore to balance; Provoke "The Healing Crisis."	Clear the entire GI tract; regulate the bowels; improve digestion.	Tonification.	Symptom suppression; kill germs & bacteria.
Instruments Used	Glass cups.	Glass cups.	Glass cups, acupuncture needles.	Opthalmo-scope, laryngo-scope, and X-ray; moma-nometer, electrocardio-gram; Chemical tests of body fluids and tissues.
Side Effects	Overdose of herbal substances; rare.	Overdose of herbal substances; rare.	Potential for acute symptoms from improper needle techniques; overdose of herbal substances; rare.	100,000 die annually from improper medications; severe and frequent drug reactions.
Population Cancer Rates	WHO Rate out of 93 Countries: 6thlowest.	WHO Rate out of 93 Countries: 6th lowest.	WHO Rate out of 93 Countries: 30th lowest.	WHO Rate out of 93 Countries: 93rd lowest (worst of all).
Annual Per Capita Health Care Expenses	$9.45Source: World Bank	$9.45Source: World Bank	$3.96Source: World Bank	$1,301.00Source: World Bank
Common Medicines Used	Senna pods, black seed, cumin, ginger.	Amla; guggula; Bibhitaki; triphala.	Ginseng, codonopsis, dang quai, astragalus.	Antibiotics, antidepressants, corticosteroid.
Chief Complaints	Non-regulation of practitioners; lack of clinics.	Non-regulation of practitioners; lack of clinics.	Obtuse language.	Adverse reactions; patient dissatisfaction; skyrocketing medical costs.
Direction of Development	Training practitioners in powers of observation; Building schools; Sources for Formulations	Training practitioners; Building schools; Develop formulations	Integration with Western hospital medicine	Higher costs; more complex diagnostics; genetic medicine
Typical Cost of Treatment in US$	$15-200	$150-200	$45-300	$200-4,000

source : link...